American planes drop 70,000 more food parcels

American cargo jets dropped 70,000 food packets over Afghanistan overnight, continuing a US effort to get aid to civilians while military targets are attacked, an Air Force spokesman said today.

The mission involving four C-17 planes brought the total number of rations dropped to about 713,000 since the start of the operation, which coincided with the start of US airstrikes, said a spokesman for US Air Force Europe at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.